Cooling bed



Jan; 1945- c. w. HAWTHORNE COOLING BED Filed Oct. 20, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 a W m H 6 a w a e W g Y 0 a s E a L 2 R 3 m l 3 C N UW M Tm 8 5 2 2 o a 7 a s 0/ 0 3 v o Patented Jan. 9, 1945 signor. to Morgan Construction Company, 3 Worcester, Mass a corporat on of-Massachusetts Application October 20, 19% Serial N02 50 6,9 59 I (Ciao-42) 14 Claims.

The invention relates to cooling beds of the type used for cooling the hot metal bars pro* duced by'a rolling mill, and more particularly to the mechanism'which serves; to transfer the bars broadside from the run-on table to'theskids on which the bars are supported while the cooling takes place.

Rolled bors having certain cross-sectional forms are preferably turned through a portion of a revolution about their longitudinal axes as they are transferred to the cooling bed skids. For example, I-beams and'channels ordinarily reach the run-on table of the cooling bed with their webs horizontal, and theyfare preferably turned or up-tilted 90 degrees so that they will rest on theskids with their webs vertical. In this ,position they will take up much less room on the skids, and thecapacity of the cooling bed will be greatly increased. While various mechanisms have been suggested for this purpose nonie has proven to be entirely satisfactory; In some cases the mechanism has been complicated, expensive, .or undependable. In certain instances too much space is required, either horizontally vor vertically, it being understood that excavation is costly and that there are many advantages in locating the skids of the cooling bed close to the run-on table and at substantially the same heightas the said table. i

It is accordingly one object of the invention to provide a cooling bed having a relatively simple, inexpensive and reliable mechanism for up-tilting rolled metal bars as they are transferred from the run-on table to the skids. I

It. is a further object of theinvention to prowith the table.

'vide a bar transferring and up-tilting mecha- I nism which will require comparatively little space both horizontally and vertically.

. It is a further object of the invention to provide a bar transferring and up-tilting mechanism which is combined in an advantageous manner with a run-on table andwith cooling bed skids located vat substantiallythesame height as the saidv table. 1

Withthese and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled inthe art, the invention residesin the combination of parts setforth in the specification and-v covered by theclaims 8; and

Fi is a section taken onthe line Z- -Ziof i 1;" Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3-of i Figs. 4- and 5 are views-similar to Fig. showing the apparatus in different phasesof ts operation; V H I v Fig. (i isa section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. "T is an enlarged fragmentary detailof a Skid; f l

Fig; 8 is a section taken on the line 88 of-Fig;

9, showing the construction of a p sh and l f tilting device; v

Fig. '9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10is a section on the line Ill-I of Flg.

in their supporting frame. e

The embodiment illustrated comprises a series Fig. l1 is a detail of certain antifrictionrolle'rs of spaced parallel horizontal rollers l5 and in-' termediate guide plates l6v forming the run-on tableyof a cooling bed. The rollers are driven in known manner throughbevelgearing (not shown) from a horizontal main drive shaft ll (Fig 3 Hot rolled metalbars. such as-the I-.beamS, are delivered longitudinally to the rollers [5 from} a rolling mill. At one side'of the run-on table there are provided the usual spaced horizontal skids l9 to which the hot bars are -transferred in a -broadside direction, the skids supporting the bar While they cool. These skids are' located at' substantially the same 'height' as the run -on table, and they extend at right angles In order to transfer the hot bars'S broadside from the run-on table to the skids [9, there are provided a series of pushing devices 21' having narrow upright pushing surfaces 22 which face forwardly in the direction of stocktransfer and extend ,both above and belo'wfthe top of the table. These pushing devices arefmounted upon a'horizontal beam 23 extending parallel with the table and "at a high; enough elevation to travel above the same. This'beam ismounted on car-,

riers ZB which are slidably supported in suit-'' able horizontal tracks or guideways 26 extending at right angles with the beam'and b elowpthe top of the. table. The carriers 25, are connected to wire ropes 21 which extend along {the tracks 26 and pass around reversible power- By means of these ropes?! the .carriers. .25" Can be moved in either direction along the become so small thatsuch sliding will be'harmless." Because of the antifriction'm'ounting of the members 35, and with the assistance. of the counterweights fl, this upward .movement.:of the members willztake place even though the 2 angle between the stock and the surfaces 221s upwardly along the sloping surfaces 33-and on to thetops of the skids I9, as shown in Fig;.; i The weight of the members 35 will causejthern o descend to their original lowered positions and the ropes-2'! will be employed to reverse the movement of the carriers 25 and the beam.- 2 3 until the parts have returned to the positions shown in Fig. 3, in readiness for the next bar. The bars S will be advanced as desired along the skids 19 by the usual go-devils (not shown) ;-in a well-rknown manner. If the stock is of such a shape thatup-tilting is not required, the bars 56 can be swung rearwardly into positions bridging the notched skids 30, so that the stock can be pushed broadside directlyover these bars to the skids l9. The apparatus is comparatively simple and in.- expensive. No moredriving mechanism is required than would be necessary for the usual tion of the advancing barand cause the pushing mechanism to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of the notches.

r 4. A cooling bed comprisinga run-on table arranged to receive rolled metal bars, a series of "substantially horizontal skids spaced from the table and at the discharge side thereof; other skids located between the table and the horizontal skids,

cooling bed having no \provision for up-tilting and no extra excavation is necessitated. The

main skids l9 are at the same elevation as the run-ontable, which is an important practical advantage. a 1

. Having thus described my invention, whatiI claim'as new-and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: p I

'1. A cooling bed comprising a run-on table arranged to receive rolled metal bars, pushing mechanism arranged to push each bar broadside from the table, and means providing a. shallow upwardly-open notch at a lower elevation than the top of the table and in position too receive the lower front portion of the advancing bar and cause the pushing mechanism to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free the notch. t;

2; A cooling bed comprising a run-on table arrangedto receive rolled metal bars, ipushing mechanism arranged to push each bar broadside from the table, and means providing a surface sloping downwardly and forwardly from the" table to a shallow upwardly-open notch, the notch being in position to receive the lower front por tion f the advancing bar and cause the pushing mechanism to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of the notch. v I

3. A cooling bed comprising a run-on table-arranged to receive rolled mettal bars, pushing mechanism having a plurality of memberseach formed with an upright pushing surface arranged to engage each bar and push the same broadside from the table, and skids extending from theor charge side of the table and each havingan upper surface which slopes downwardly and forwardly to a shallow upwardly-open notch, the notches being in position to receive the lower front poreach of the said other skids having an upper surface which slopes downwardly and forwardly from the table to a shallow upwardly-open notch and thence-upwardly and forwardly to the horizontal skids, and pushing mechanism arranged to push each bar broadside from the table and over the said other skids to; the horizontal skids, the notches serving to receive the lower. front portion of each advancing bar and cause the pushing mechanism to swingthe bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of the notches.

' 5. A cooling bed comprising a run-on table arranged to receive rolled metal bars, a series of substantially horizontal skids spaced from the table and at the discharge side thereof, other skids located between the table and thehorizontal skids, each of the said other skids'having an upper surface which slopes downwardly and forwardly from the table to a relatively low rearwardly facing shoulderand thence upwardly and forwardly to the horizontal skids, and pushing mechanism'having a plurality of members each formed with an upright pushing surface arranged to engage each bar and push the same broadside from the table and over the said other skids to the horizontal skids, the shoulders being in position to J engage the front edge of each advancing bar and cause the pushing mechanism to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly about the shoulders as a fulcrum. a

6. A cooling bed comprising a run-on table arranged to receive 'rolled metal bars, pushing mechanism movable horizontally and having a plurality of members each formed with an upright pushing surface arranged to engageeach bar and push the same broadside from the table, and means providing a shallow upwardly-open notch at a lower elevation than the top of the table and in'position to receive the lower front portion of the advancing bar and cause the pushing members to swing the bar:upwardly and forwardly until it is free of the notch, the pushing members being free to move upwardly'with the rear edge of the bar at the start of the upward swing thereof. i

7. A cooling bed comprising a run-on table arranged to receive rolled metal bars, a plurality of brackets movable horizontally across the table, a pushing member mounted on each bracket and formed with an upright pushing surface arranged to engage each: bar and push the same broadside from the table, and skids extending away from the table to receive the bars and each shaped to provide a shallow upwardly-open notch at alower elevation than the top of the table and inposition to receive the lower front portion of the advancing bar and cause the pushing members to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of the notch, the pushing members being free to slide upwardly along the brackets with the rear edge of the bar at the start of the upward swing thereof. i

8. A cooling bed comprising a run-ontable arranged to receive rolled metal bars, a plurality of brackets movable horizontally across the table, a pushing member carried by each bracket and formed with an upright pushing surface arranged to engage each. bar. and push. the. same-broadside from the table, skids extending away from the table to receive the bars and each shaped toprovide a shallow upwardly-open notch at a lower elevation than the top of'thev tableand in position to receive the. lower frontportion of the advancing bar and cause the pushing'memberszto swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of the notch, and means providing an anti-fric-y tion. mounting for each pushing member such that the members may slide freely upwardly along the brackets with the rearedge of the-bar at the start of the upward swing thereof.

9. A cooling bed comprising a run-on table arranged to receiverolled metalbars, a pluralityof brackets movable horizontally: across; the table; a

pushing member carriedby each bracket and formed with an upright pushing surface arranged to engage each bar and push the same'broadside from the table, skids extendingaway from the table to receive the bars and" each shaped toprovide a shallow upwardly-open notch at a lower elevation than the top ofthe table andiin position to receive the lower front. portion of the advancing bar and cause. the pushing members to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of the notch, the brackets; having upright front surfaces, and a. pair of vertically spaced horizontal anti-friction rollers. located. between the front surfaceof each bracketand the corresponding pushing member so that the pushing members may slide freely upwardly along: the brackets with the rear edge of the bar atc'the start of the upward swing thereof.

10. A cooling bed comprising a. runeon; table; arranged to receive rolled metal. bars, a plurality of brackets movable horizontally across the table, a .pushing member mounted on: each. bracket and. formed with an uprightpushing surface arranged to engage each. bar and push the same broadsidefrom the table, skids; extending away from the table to receive the bars and each:

shaped, to provide a shallow upwardly-open notch at. a lower elevation than theitop of the table and in position to receive the-lower frontportion of the advancing bar and cause the pushing members to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of'the notch, the pushing members being free to slide upwardly along the brackets with the rear edge of thebar atrthe start of the upward swing thereof, and a counterbalance for each pushing member arranged to balance a portion of the weight thereof.

11. A cooling bed comprising a run-on tablearranged to receive rolled metal bars; a plurality of brackets movable horizontally acrossthe table, a pushing member'carried by each bracket and formed with an upright pushing; surface arranged to engage each bar and push the same broadside from the table, skids extending away from the table to receive the barsand each having an upper surface which slopes downwardly 12; A cooling bedcomprising a, run-0n. table arranged to: receive rolled metal bars,,a plurality of brackets movable horizontally across the table, 9. pushing member carried by each bracket and formed with an upright pushing surface ar ranged to engage each bar and push the same broadside from the table, a seriesof'substantially horizontal skids spaced from the table and at the discharge side thereof, other skids located.

between the table and the horizontal skids, each of the said other skids having an upper surface which lopes downwardly and forwardly from the table to a shallow upwardly-open notch and thence upwardly and forwardlyto the horizontal skids, the notches serving to receive the lower front portion of each advancing bar'and'c'ause the-pushing-members to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of thenotches, and means providing ananti-friction mounting for each pushing member such-that the members may slide freely upwardly along the brackets with the rear edge of the barat the start of the upward swing thereof.

13. A cooling bed comprising a run-on table arranged to receive rolled metal bars, horizontal tracks extending transversely of the table, carriersmovable along the tracks, a horizontal beam mounted on the carriers and extending parallel with the table, brackets mounted on the beam, 3, pushing member carried by each bracket and formed with an upright pushing surface arranged to engage each bar and push the same broadside from the table, a series of substantially horizontal skids spaced from the table and at the discharge side thereof, other skids located between the table and the horizontal skids, each of the said other skids having an upper surface which slopes downwardly and forwardly from the table to a shallow upwardly-open notch and thence upwardly and forwardly to the horizontal skids, the notches serving to receive the lower front portion of each advancing bar and cause the pushing members to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of the notches, and means providing an anti-friction mounting for each pushing member such that the members may slide freely upwardly along the brackets with skids located between the table and the horizontal skids, each of the said other skids. having an upper surface which slopes downwardly and forwardly from. the table to a shallow upwardlyopen notch and thence upwardly and forwardly to the horizontal skids, pushing mechanism arranged to push each bar broadside from the table and over the said other skids to the horizontal skids, the notches serving to receive the lower front portion of each advancing bar and cause the pushing mechanism to swing the bar upwardly and forwardly until it is free of the notches, and bridge members arranged to" be 1 movedinto horizontal bridging. relationshipw-ith the. said other skids so that bars which do not require up-tilting may be pushed over the said bridge members to the horizontal skids without engaging the notches.

CHARLES HAWTHORN EL Patented Jan. 9, 1945 UNITED STAT SEPARATION .or corn-2a raoM rm John 0. Bay, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, aeeignor to The Harshaw Chemical mp ny, Elyr Ohio, a corporation of Ohio No Drawing. Original application March 23,

1942, Serial No. 435,915. Divided and this ap- .plication September 29, 1943, Serial No. 504,521

4 Claims.

This invention relates to the separation of cop per from alloys or other mixtures of the same with one or more metals electropositive to copper. More "specifically, the invention relates to separation of copper from scrap alloys. or other mixtures containing copper, such as for example, copper-nickel scrap (e. g., Monel, Nickeline, Constantan, etc.), and is applicable to alloys or other mixtures of copper with, among other metals electropositive to copper, aluminum, manganese, beryllium, zinc, iron, cadmium, cobalt,'nicke1, antimony and tin. The alloy may contain copper and any one or more of the other metals named. It may also contain, in addition to the above metals, minor amounts of elements not electropositive to copper, which, providing the alloy as a whole is electropositive, do not affect the basic reactions. However, such elements may, because of the insolubility of their compounds or the formation of inert coatings on the metal, eventually inhibit the reaction unless special means, differing with the circumstances, are used to prevent such formation. These special means affect only those elements in the alloy which are not electropositive to copper and, therefore, do not affect the general procedure which constitutes this invention.

I have discovered that if .a reaction mixture comprising a body of an alloy or other mixture of the class stated, an aqueous ,acid solution containing ions of the class consisting of chlorideand sulfate or both and finely divided sulfur is heated, the copper content of the alloy or other mixture, together with the copper in solution, if

, any, is converted to copper sulfide while the more electropositive metal orv metals go into solution to form their salt or salts, sulfur and free acid in the solution being used up in the reaction. Not only does the free acid in the solution combine with the more electropositive metal or metals, but the negative ion released by reaction of the copper salt in the solution with sulfur to form copper sulfide reacts with the more electropositive metal or metals to form the soluble salt. Thus, neglecting possible intermediate reactions, there are three simultaneous reactions going on, viz., first, the sulfur reacts with the copper at thesurface of the metal to form copper sulfide which immediately precipitates, second, the more electropositive metal reacts with the negative ions present to form a solution of the salt or salts, and third, the sulfur reacts with any copper salt in solution throwing down copper sulfide and setting free negative ions for the reactionwith the more electropositive metal or metals.

in the solution initially, and all the copper to be released from the alloy as the more electropositive constituents dissolve. The amount of free acid can be such that its negative ion plus the.

negative ion associated with copper initially in solution will be approximately such as required to dissolve the electropositive metal. The amount 'of alloy or other mixture of metals theoretically required to remove all copper from solution is such as to supply to the solution electropositive metal or metals in-quantity molecularly equivalent to the compounds furnishing the negative ions in the solution.

Since, practically, the composition of the alloy.

ofthe electropositive metal or metals and a dense and easily fllterable precipitate of copper sulfide.

This balance may be the preferred practice, but as shown by some of the examples, conside erable deviation from a balance does not interfere with the reactions and may be considered Disregarding side reactions, which in some in anced, thus, the amount of sulfur can. be approximately such as required to react with all copper vof metallic surface.

satisfactory practice. For instance, if the metals are in the form of powder or very finely divided, or as thin scrap or fine wire, a balance as above would probably be preferred. However, if the metals are in the form of coarse or heavy scrap,

a countercurrent process might be preferred in which excess metal'would be present at the end of each batch, .this method shortening the reaction time by making available a larger amount One of the advantages of the method is that the copper sulfide does not adhere to the excess metal so that during-the reaction the metal surfaces are always relatively clean and reactive, and at the conclusion of. the reaction, the excess metal may be readily separated from the copper sulfide precipitate. The remaining metal has essentially the composition of the original metal, being neither substantially enriched by copper nor substantially depleted of the more electropositive metal or metals.

In practice, the sulfur would be kept as low as possible but a slight excess over theoretical requirements would probably be preferred to insure complete reaction and to maintain a rapid reaction rate up to the end. a

The amount of free acid may be adjusted from only that required to prevent the precipitation of basic salts'to an amount sufficient to furnish a considerable proportion of the negative ion, in fact, as hereinafter explained, if no copper salt is in solution initially the acid can furnish the entire amount of negative ion. I

In the practical operation of the process, there are some slight divergences from ,theoretical results but-they are not of great importance. For example, some metal and some free sulfur are frequently found inthe precipitate and the composition of the copper sulfide itself may vary between cupric sulfide and cuprous sulfide.

While the result is the same in each case the chemical reactions involved seem to be several,

the importance of each of which varies according to the acid and metal employed. When metals highly electropositive to copper are employed, more or less metallic copper is thrown out first, this then reacting with sulfur to form copper sulfide. coating, the rate at which it is thrown out will be increasingly slower until the sulfur has combined with it when the two reactions seem to proceed at a balanced rate. When the metal is not 5 so greatly electropositive, the combination of sulfur and copper may tak place at the surface of the metal without visible evidence of intermediate stages. If copper is present in the solution at the start and isin the form of the chloride, there may be reduction first followed by the for mation of the sulfide at some distance from the metal surface. However, if cupric sulfate is present in a wholly sulfate solution, the same formation of sulfide still occurs. There is frequently more or less formation of hydrogen sulfide, the amount being, apparently, somewhat dependent upon the metal employed and upon the rate of addition of the sulfur to the solution. Th precipitation of copper by Has, at least to some extent, seems likely.

The process, as described thus far, presupposes that the initial reaction mixture contain in solution salts of the constituent metals of the alloy. This is not essential. If the initial mixture contains merely the alloy, water, sulfur, and acid, the copper from the alloy will react with the sulfur while the more electropositive metal or metals will dissolve. After a short interval of operation, the reaction mixture will contain all the-components as in the previously described batch, except that there will be at no time any considerable concentration of copper in solution. It is, then, clear that copper in solution is not necessary unless it be supposed that it dissolves momentarily before reacting with sulfur. In any event, no substantial concentration of copper salt in solution is essential.

This method is applicable to separating copper and more electropositive metals which are not alloys. Examples of such 'use would be the separation of a mixture of metallic powders or finely disseminated metals in a non-metallic matrix such as might be obtained by in situ or gaseous reduction of an ore, one of the powdered metals or disseminated metals being copper, and the others more electropositive] By heating such a mixture of metals with acid (or a suitable metallic salt), water, and sulfur so that the copper is precipitated as copper sulfide and the more electropositive metals are put into solution, the essentials of this invention in its broad aspect have been complied with.

The negative ions preferred are the chloride ion, the sulfate ion, or a mixture of the two. but I may make use of other negative ions which do not exert a solvent action on copper sulfide and which do not precipitate the other metal as an insoluble salt.

While I prefer to employ finely ground or flowers of sulfur, the sulfur need not be in this form. I have also used other forms of sulfur including small lumps or as when the boiling point of the salt solution is above the melting point of sulfur, the latter is used as an emulsion of melted If copper is thrown out as an adherent sulfur. I have also added in many cases a small amount of wetting agent to prevent agglomeration and floating of the finely powdered sulfur. This is not necessary, noris there any catalytic effect to be gained by the wetting agent. The reaction proceeds without this addition, and .with proper mixing of the sulfur in a small portion of acid or acid and strong salt solution its wetting may be accomplished.

A typical-utilization of the process would be in the treatment of a copper-tin scrap. This scrap can be dissolved to form a mixed,-concentrated solution of, for example, the chlorides of tin and copper. This can be done by known methods which form no part of the present invention. This concentrated solution of the chlorides can then be heated with more of the scrap and elemental sulfur during which the copper can be completely removed as the sulfide and replaced by tin so that the solution beco'mes copper freeand correspondingly more concentrated with respect to tin.

This application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 435,915, filed March 23, 1942.

The following examples will serve to illustrate the invention:

Example I An alloy containing 80% Cu and 20% Sn was heated in a solution consisting of 6.4 g. of Cu as CuzClz and 125.0 g. of Sn as SnClz, 100 cc. water and 20 cc. 18 136. K01 together with 5.0 g. finely divided sulfur. 7.6 g. of the alloy were disintegrated with the precipitation of copper sulfide. There were 18.9 g. of the copper sulfide residue which contained an excess of free sulfur. There was a slight generation of H28. The solution was copper free.

Example II A copper tin alloy of same composition as Example I (46.4 g.) was treated by heating in a solution of 50 cc. 18 B. HCl and 50 cc."water together with 3 g. of sulfur. After 1 to 2 hours during which there was some evolution of H23,

6.4 g. of the alloy had disintegrated forming 6.4 g. of copper sulfide precipitate and a copper free solution of stannous chloride. The precipitate contained essentially no tin and very little, if any, free sulfur.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A process for obtaining copper sulfides and a tin salt from a tin-copper alloy which comprises heating an aqueous, acid solution ,containing a copper salt and a tin salt in contact with the alloy and elemental sulfur.

2. A process for obtaining copper sulfide and tin chloride from a tin-copper alloy which comprises heating an aqueous, acid solution containing tin chloride andcopper chloride in contact with the alloy and elemental sulfur.

3. A process for obtaining copper sulfide and a tin salt from a tin-copper alloy which comprises heating at its boiling point an aqueous, acid solution containing a copper salt and a tin salt in contact with the alloy and finely divided elemental sulfur. 

